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ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF EARLY AND LATE SOWING OF WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) UNDER WATER DEFICIT CONDITIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIOXIDANT DEFENCE SYSTEM AND GRAIN QUALITY(PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, LUDHIANA, 2010) SONDEEP SINGH; GUPTA, A. K.Drought and high temperature (HT) are major environmental constraints in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production and quality world wide. Deciphering the mechanisms of drought and HT tolerance is a challenging task because of the complexity of stress respoThesisItem Open Access Morpho-physiological and biochemical characterization of a recombinant inbred line population of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under direct-seeded aerobic conditions(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2014) Cheema, Amandeep Kaur; Bedi, SeemaDirect seeding of rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a resource conservation technology but at the cost of reduction in yield. In the present study, recombinant inbred lines (RILs) obtained from a cross between PR 120 x UPLRi 7 were sown as direct-seeded aerobic and conventional transplanted crops respectively for two seasons. Various morpho-physiological, biochemical and yield related traits were studied under the two conditions. In general, plant height, dry matter, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, leaf area and chlorophyll content were lower under direct-seeded aerobic conditions than under conventional transplanted conditions. Plant height and crop growth rate showed a positive correlation with grain yield and had a direct effect on grain yield. Dry matter accumulation did not show any significant correlation but had an indirect effect on grain yield. Relative growth rate, leaf area and chlorophyll content did not show any correlation or effect on grain yield. All the yield contributing traits viz., above ground biomass, total number of tillers per 0.5m row, number of fertile tillers per panicle per 0.5m row, spikelets per panicle, grain filling percentage, grain yield per 0.5m row, harvest index, 1000 grain weight were lower and sterile grain per panicle were higher in direct-seeded aerobic condition. Above ground biomass and harvest index showed correlation with yield and had a direct effect on grain yield under both direct-seeded aerobic and conventional transplanted conditions. In general, higher sugar, starch and proline content were detected in leaves of direct-seeded aerobic crop. Out of twenty RILs under study, Ae-RIL-B-158, showed highest proline and sugar contents. Interestingly, this RIL showed least reduction in yield when sown under direct seeded-aerobic condition as against conventional transplanted condition suggesting this RIL may be more tolerant to drought stress as it accumulated highest proline and sugars under direct-seeded aerobic condition. The development of aerenchyma was comparatively more in crop raised under conventional transplanted conditions than under direct-seeded aerobic conditions. UPLRi7 (parent) showed maximum aerenchyma under direct-seeded aerobic conditions while PR120 (parent) showed maximum aerenchyma formation under conventional transplanted conditions. Under both the sowing conditions, two high-yielding RILs (Ae-RIL-B-42 and Ae-RIL-B-44) had higher aerenchyma than the two low-yielding RILs (Ae-RIL-B-7 and Ae-RIL-B-117). These characters could be used as criteria for selecting RILs for incorporating into breeding programmes for yield enhancement.ThesisItem Open Access Dynamics of soil phosphorus in relation to carbon under different cropping systems(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Dhram Prakash; Benbi, D.K.Dynamics of phosphorus in soils were studied in relation to nutrient management and land-use practices. The nutrient management practices evaluated included source (rock phosphate and single superphosphate) and rates of P application in rice-wheat system; and integrated nutrient management (INM) and organic farming practices in basmati-wheat system in field experiments conducted at the research farm of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The land-uses studied included ricewheat, maize-wheat, cotton-wheat and poplar based agroforestry systems at farmers’ fields in different districts of Punjab. After seven cycles of rice-wheat cropping, farmyard manure (FYM) and rock phosphate (RP) application increased available P and soil organic carbon (SOC) by 72% and 98%, respectively over control. Inorganic P constituted the largest proportion (88-92%) of total P in soil and relative abundance of different inorganic P fractions in soils followed the order Ca-Al associated > Fe associated > humic bound > water soluble P. In basmati-wheat system, application of recommended rates of NPK and adoption of INM improved available P in soil over unamended control by 75 and 100%, respectively. The comparison of three organic sources revealed that available P was the highest in soil receiving 400 kg N ha-1 through FYM followed by rice straw compost and the lowest in vermicompost-amended plots. Application of FYM significantly increased inorganic, organic and total P, SOC and labile C pools compared to INM treatments. The INM increased inorganic, organic and total P by 77, 82 and 78%, respectively over NPK. Humic-bound organic P constituted major proportion (39.5-49.5%) and water soluble organic P comprised the smallest proportion (0.83-2.5%) of organic P in soils under basmati-wheat system. Beneficial effects of different treatments on soil properties were higher in surface soil (0-7.5 cm), which decreased with soil depth. Generally, soil P fractions were positively correlated with soil C pools. Cumulative P released in 96 hours of equilibration increased with manure and fertilizer application either alone or in combination. Phosphorus release kinetics were best described by Elovich and power function equations (R2≥0.98). Results of land-use studies showed that agroforestry systems had relatively higher proportion of organic P (27%) compared to sole cropping (6-7.7%). Soil organic C was the highest (0.58%) under agroforestry and was significantly correlated with soil P fractions under sole cropping systems. Soil properties viz. clay, organic C, CaCO3 and available P content significantly influenced soil P sorption and release kinetics. Phosphorus release decreased with increase in clay and CaCO3 content. On the contrary, P release increased with increase in available P and organic C. The results suggested that P availability will be higher in coarse-textured, non-calcareous soils having higher levels of organic C and available P. Therefore, for efficient P management it is important to take into account soil texture, the existing soil P level, organic C content and calcareousness of soil. Practices that increase SOC content and ameliorate CaCO3 could lead to improved P use efficiency.ThesisItem Restricted Allele mining for phospholipase D locus to improve the rice bran quality(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Amandeep Kaur; Kuldeep SinghRice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s population. Rice bran which is a by-product after milling is rich in oil (12–23%), proteins (14–16%), vitamins and crude fiber (8–10%). Rice bran oil is typically an oleic–linoleic type fatty acid and qualifies for good quality edible oil. The primary limitation of rice bran as a source of oil is the presence of highly active lipolytic enzyme Phospholipase D alpha1 (PLDα1) that increases free fatty acids content in the oil and causes the ‘stale flavor’ in the product. The wild relatives of rice constitute a major gene pool for rice improvement. In this study, sequence based allele mining of the gene PLDα1 (6.28 kb) was taken up in wild species of rice to identify potentially novel alleles for bran quality improvement. Differences in expression patterns were also investigated for potential correlation with sequence variation. A representative subset of 86 accessions belonging to 16 wild Oryza species and eight O. sativa cultivars were selected for this purpose. Alignment of the assembled sequence contigs relative to the Nipponbare reference (Os01g0172400) gene revealed the presence of 2555 variations (SNPs and InDels). Highest polymorhism at PLDα1 locus have been detected in the O.officinalis species. Expression profiles in immature grains generated by exon-specific qRT-PCR indicate significant differences in transcript abundance within as well as between the selected accessions and different 3’and 5’ truncated PLDα1 mRNA. Cis-elements identified in the upstream sequences showed variations relative to the reference in low expressing wild species accessions. These results suggest that potential PLDα1 allelic variants are defined by differential regulation at the levels of transcription initiation and/or mRNA splicing. The wild species accessions with variations in protein structures and low expression, identified in the present study, can be further utilized in the breeding programs to transfer desirable allele into elite lines through marker assisted selection.ThesisItem Open Access Study on potentials of farm income in Punjab(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2011) Sachdeva, Jatinder; Sharma, J. L.The study was undertaken with a view to identify the potentials of increasing farm income in Punjab. The study was conducted in all the three agro-climatic zones of Punjab to make it representative for the state. The primary data were collected from a sample of 300 farmers pertaining to the agricultural year 2008-09. The techniques of multiple regression analysis and linear programming were used to analyze the data. The production function analysis revealed that human labour employed, availability of irrigation machinery and farm size were the most important determinants of the gross value of produce from crop production. Whereas, in the case of dairy farming quantity of concentrates fed and expenditure on veterinary care emerged as important determinants of the gross value of milk produced. The technical efficiency of the farms of Central Plain Zone (Zone-II) was the highest followed by South-western Zone (Zone-III) and Sub-mountainous Zone (Zone-I). This can be attributed to favourable soil, water and climatic conditions and better access to research and extension agencies in Zone-II. The improved plans developed at two levels of technology increased the returns to fixed farm resources ranging from 2.19 to 3.86 per cent in Improved Plan-I and 13.95 to 17.06 per cent in Improved Plan-II on farms of different size categories in the state. The findings of the study revealed that by developing irrigation facilities, providing training for vegetable cultivation and short term credit facilities will help in increasing farm income especially in Sub-mountainous Zone. The development of short duration varieties of oilseeds and pulses which can easily fit in the paddy-wheat rotation will also help in increasing the income of farmers. The rational use of inputs like fertilizers and insecticides-pesticides helps in decreasing variable cost and ultimately increases the farm income. To make the agricultural system competitive and to increase the income of farmers, efforts should be made by all the interest groups involved in the farm sector.ThesisItem Restricted Effect of thermal treatments on antioxidative activity of selected vegetables(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2014) Bembem, Khwairakpam; Sadana, BalwinderThe present study was undertaken to assess the effect of thermal treatments on the proximate composition and antioxidative compounds of selected vegetables namely: spinach beet, mustard leaves, cauliflower, peas, carrot and potato. The vegetables were subjected to five different thermal treatments i.e, boiling, steaming, pressure cooking, microwaving and sautéing. Raw and thermally treated vegetables were analyzed for proximate composition, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total carotenoids, β- carotene, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity. Crude protein and fibre content of the vegetables cooked by the different cooking methods were slightly lower than that of the raw. In spinach beet, mustard leaves and potato the crude fat content was found to increase slightly by all the thermal treatments, but significantly (p<0.05) in case of spinach beet. All the thermally treated vegetables drastically lowered the vitamin C content. Among all the vegetables (raw and thermally treated), spinach beet (113.04) had exceptionally high total phenolic content, expressed as mg GAE/100g FW. TFC of the selected vegetables as expressed in mg QE/100g FW ranged from 0.12 to 33.9. TFC of spinach beet was found to be the highest among all the raw and thermally treated vegetables followed by mustard leaves and cauliflower. Total carotenoids content of the raw vegetables analyzed ranged from 0.18 to 12.13 mg/100g FW, with the lowest in potato and the highest in carrot. Thermal treatments of the vegetables significantly reduced the total carotenoids of all the vegetables except for carrot, in which the total carotenoids content was found to increase significantly (p<0.05). Among all the vegetables tested, mustard leaves showed the highest radical scavenging activity with an inhibition of 69.44 per cent whereas carrot had lowest activity with 11.20 per cent. Total antioxidant activity of spinach beet, mustard leaves, carrot and potato increased significantly (p<0.05) by all the thermal treatments compared to the raw counterparts. The study concluded that processing can enhance antioxidant potential of vegetables. Pressure cooking and boiling of vegetables are recommended for domestic cooking owing to the higher antioxidant activity retention.ThesisItem Restricted Development of Supplementary Foods Using Garden Cress (Lepidium sativum) Seeds to Reduce Malnutrition Among Children(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Jain, Tanu; Grover, KiranThe present study was undertaken to develop ready to eat supplementary foods using garden cress seeds to reduce malnutrition and anaemia among children. Garden cress seeds were found to be rich in energy, protein, fat, calcium, iron and zinc with good amount of lysine and linolenic acid. The quantity and quality of proteins were found to be decreased with processing. Essential fatty acids- linoleic and linolenic acids decreased with roasting and boiling while fatty acid profile remained unaffected with soaking treatment. Phytin phosphorus and oxalates decreased with processing which significantly improved in vitro digestibility of starch, protein and iron with improved per cent iron bioavailability. Roasted garden cress seeds/powder was supplemented in various ready to eat foods at the range of 5-25 per cent. The products were found to be acceptable at different levels viz. pinni, panjiri, laddu and burfi at 10 per cent, chikki at 25 per cent and biscuits at 7.5 per cent. Among all developed products, overall acceptability scores for biscuits (7.93 ± 0.32) were found to be highest. Nutritional analysis of all accepted supplementary foods was found to be high in macro and micronutrients with improved essential amino acids and fatty acids. Effectiveness of supplementation was evaluated in terms of improvement in dietary intake, anthropometric and biochemical profile before and after a period of 3 months by selecting mildly underweight and anaemic school going children. The supplementation significantly (p≤0.05) increased cereal, sugar and fat intake resulting in improved daily nutrient intake of experimental group. A significant improvement was also observed in anthropometric parameters and z scores. The iron status, serum proteins and serum albumin were found to be significantly improved in experimental group. A reduction in prevalence of malnutrition (16.67 %) and anaemia (30 %) was observed with supplementation. Hence, the present study recommends the inclusion of garden cress supplemented foods in school feeding programmes to reduce malnutrition and anaemia among children.ThesisItem Restricted Integration of organized retailing with agribusiness groups in Punjab: challenges and opportunities(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Manveer Singh; Ramandeep SinghThe study on integration of organized retailing with agribusiness groups in Punjab: challenges and opportunities was undertaken with objectives to study the status and potential of organized retailing in Punjab, to study the scope of selected agribusiness groups to be integrated with organized retailing and to identify gaps and suggest policy interventions for promoting integration. Organized retailers have good potential to integrate with agribusiness groups. Opportunities for integration of organized retailer with agribusiness groups are regular buyer, good profits, quality products and brand name. Challenges of integration of organized retailer with agribusiness groups are quality, consistency, regular product availability, communication and mobility. Gaps for integration are quality, packaging, bar coding, traceability of product, finance, technology, certified products and modern processing machinery. Interventions for promoting integration are quality of the packaging and products, communication, bar coding, training, up gradation of production system and market information.ThesisItem Restricted Value-added chemicals from lignin and hemicellulose fractions of sugarcane bagasse(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Ramandeep Kaur; Uppal, S.K.Sugarcane bagasse was analyzed for its chemical composition and was found to contain cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin 42.11, 28.42, 19.20%, and glucan, xylan, arabinan, acid insoluble lignin, acid soluble lignin, ash 39.65, 21.46, 2.75, 15.10, 3.31, 3.96%, respectively. Maximum lignin extraction (17.60%) was found to be with 10% NaOH which was further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy images. Lignin was chemically modified by oxidation, acetylation, epoxidation and hydroxymethylation and characterized using FT-IR, 1H, 13CNMR spectra. HPLC analysis revealed p-coumaric acid as major phenolic acid in bagasse lignin (14.76 mg g-1 bagasse) followed by ferulic, vanillic and syringic acid. p-Coumaric and ferulic acid were isolated, derivatized into esters (reactions with alcohols) and amides (reactions with amines, amide linking reagent EDC-HCl (N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N’-ethylcarbodiimide) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole, HOBt) and characterized by FT-IR, 1H, 13CNMR spectra and elemental analyses. Lignin, modified lignins, phenolic acids and their derivatives were evaluated for antioxidant (DPPH radical scavenging) activity and antibacterial activity against Bacillus aryabhattai, Acinetobacter sp. and Klebsiella sp. Lignin and its oxidized and hydroxymethyl derivative were observed to have higher antioxidant activity than 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT) and lower than 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA). Phenolic compounds and their derivatives were effective at lower concentrations for antibacterial activity than lignin and modified lignins. Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) were produced from bagasse by xylan extraction (5, 10, 15% KOH and NaOH) followed by acid hydrolysis (0.25 and 0.50MH2SO4; 20, 40, 60min) and analyzed by HPTLC. The best treatment for xylan hydrolysis leading to increased production of XOS and reduced concentration of xylose was found to be 0.25MH2SO4 for 20 min. XOS were found to be better prebiotics for three probiotic bacteria viz. Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus viridescens than glucose and standard fructooligosaccharides.
